Eee Keyboard shows up on Amazon

At last, the Asus Eee Keyboard seems to be in the process of completing its metamorphosis from trade-show curiosity to actual, shipping product. A listing has appeared on Amazon, which charges a hefty $599 for the all-in-one device.

According to the product description, this Eee Keyboard has an "LED-backlit keyboard" sitting alongside a 5" multi-touch display with an 800x480 resolution—the same as that of the very first Eee PC display. Internally, Asus has outfitted the machine with an Atom N270 processor, a gig of DDR2 RAM, 16GB of solid-state storage, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.1, "Ultra-wideband Technology," and a battery rated for up to four hours of run time.

Look around the outside of the machine, and you should see HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, headphone, and microphone ports, plus three USB ports and an antenna mount for the Wi-Fi and ultra-wideband connectivity. The Eee Keyboard actually ships with an HDMI cable in the box, too.

This thing definitely looks like a throwback to home computers of the 1980s, which often had their guts, storage drives, and keyboards melded together in the same enclosure. When we inquired about its purpose at the last Computex show, though, Asus didn't give us a very clear description of what this one-inch-thick, 2.4-lb contraption could be used for. At the very least, the HDMI connectivity suggests the Eee Keyboard might belong in the living room. (Thanks to TR reader Matt for the tip.)